Cisco Study finds 97 percent of Thailand organizations consider privacy a business imperative

• Cisco’s 2022 Data Privacy Benchmark Study surveyed more than 4,900 professionals across 27 geographies. It finds that 90% of respondents worldwide consider privacy a business imperative.
• Organizations in Thailand are investing more in privacy with an average budget increase of 55%.
• Privacy legislation has been well received with 92% of Thailand respondents seeing a positive impact.
• Customers want more transparency and are concerned about the use of data in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated decision making.

Cisco’s 2022 Data Privacy Benchmark Study* found that privacy is mission-critical, as 90% of global respondents consider privacy a business imperative. In Thailand, this figure is even higher at 97%. The survey – an annual global review of privacy corporate practices, on the impact of privacy on organizations and their views towards data privacy – showed that organizations see tangible benefits from prioritizing and investing in privacy.

Privacy has become a true business imperative and a critical component of customer trust for organizations around the world. Ninety-eight percent of the respondents in Thailand said they would not buy from an organization that does not properly protect its data, and 91% indicated that external privacy certifications are important in their buying process.  

Organizations see good Return on Investment (ROI) from privacy, with increased benefits for small to medium size organizations. In Thailand, more than 70% of respondents felt they were getting significant business value from privacy when it comes to building trust with customers, making their company more attractive, achieving efficiency, enabling innovation, and mitigating losses from data breaches. Respondents in Thailand estimate their ROI to be 1.2 times spending on average.

The study found that privacy legislation continues to be very well received around the world even though complying with these laws often involves significant effort and cost (e.g., cataloging data, maintaining records of processing activities, implementing controls – privacy by design, responding to user requests). In Thailand, 92% of all corporate respondents said privacy laws have had a positive impact, and only 2% indicated the laws have had a negative impact.

Most recently, the Personal Data Protection Committee, the regulatory body responsible for the implementation of Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), was established in January 2022. The PDPA is expected to be fully enforced from June this year and mandates that personal data can only be collected with the consent of data owners and used solely for the expressed purposes.

“The imminent enforcement of the PDPA will impact how organizations in Thailand collect and use personal data. As businesses become increasingly digitalized and more and more data is created, privacy will only continue to grow in importance for organizations in the country. The good news is that they are getting prepared for the changes, with 98% of survey respondents in Thailand saying they are reporting one or more privacy-related metrics to their board, and privacy investment rising with an average budget increase of 55%,” said Taveewat Chantaraseno, Managing Director, Cisco Thailand. “At Cisco, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right, and we need security and transparency to protect it. It is encouraging to see that organizations are focusing more in this area.”

As governments and organizations continue to demand further data protection, they are putting in place data localization requirements. Ninety-nine percent of respondents in Thailand said this has become an important issue for their organizations. But it comes at a price – 93% said that localization requirements are adding significant cost to their operation.  

Finally, when it comes to using data, 99% of survey respondents in Thailand recognize that their organization has a responsibility to only use data in a responsible manner. And 93% believe they already have processes in place to ensure automated decision-making is done in accordance with customer expectations. Yet, Cisco’s 2021 Consumer Privacy Survey showed many individuals want more transparency and 56% of consumers surveyed globally are concerned about the use of data in AI and automated decision-making. Forty-six percent of consumers surveyed felt they cannot adequately protect their data, chiefly because they do not understand what organizations are collecting and doing with their data.

“Cisco is committed to data privacy, including governance of emergent technologies such as artificial intelligence,” says Anurag Dhingra, Cisco Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Collaboration. “We’re publishing the Responsible AI Framework as part of Cisco’s commitment to transparency and adaptability by establishing a governance process and concrete working practices for our development teams, including vital communication channels with our customers and constituencies. The framework defines clear principles in alignment with the values of our customers.”